Understanding What ERP to eCommerce Integration Is

This article was contributed by Hawksearch Partner, eBridge Connections.

From automating order data to making happier customers, integrating data from your eCommerce platform or online marketplace shop to your back-office accounting or ERP can save you time and money.

The first step in a successful ERP to eCommerce (or CRM or EDI) integration, is understanding the lingo, and determining if integration will help solve the challenges your business is facing.

Know the Important Terms:

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): an application which enables a company to manage and report on the important parts of its business. Examples of popular ERPs include products by Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, Sage, Epicor, SAP, Intuit, etc.

eCommerce: describes the buying and selling of commercial goods and services, conducted electronically on the internet. (Hint: Your friends call it online shopping).

CRM (Customer Relationship Management): a business system that merchants and entrepreneurs use to grow their businesses by improving relationships with customers and driving sales growth. Examples include Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sugar CRM, and so on.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange): refers to the transfer of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. Examples of common retailers with requirements for EDI are Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, and many more.

Integration: refers to the process of synchronizing, linking, or connecting, bi-directionally, two or more business systems so that data will be automatically transferred back and forth between them without the need for human intervention.

Reasons You May Need Integration:

You get a lot of sales orders (200+ a month on average)

You’re finding it impossible to scale your eCommerce business with people rekeying data by hand

Your overall customer experience is below par

You have a backlog of orders waiting to be processed

You don’t want to hire a data entry person

Your inventory level records are not an accurate reflection of the stock you have available due to delays in updating records manually

You’re receiving penalties from online marketplaces like Amazon who have strict requirements for fast order fulfillment speeds

You’re receiving negative reviews from your customers because of slow service or inaccurate order processing

Get more information on what exactly ERP to eCommerce integration is. Grab an eBook copy of eCommerce Integration For Dummies.

Chapter 1 is 100% focused on helping you understand what eCommerce integration is all about. The rest of the book focuses on ways to approach integration yourself, and even how to evaluate an integration platform vendor, if you wish to outsource.
If the reasons above seem like problems your business faces, we recommend diving deeper into eCommerce Integration For Dummies so that you can find a solution, ASAP.

Have questions about the eBook or integration in general? Reach out to Hawksearch partner, eBridge Connections, anytime at [email protected] .

About eBridge Connections

eBridge Connections delivers powerful, cloud-based ERP and accounting integration solutions that automate vital business processes and eliminate the need for manual data entry. The eBridge universal integration platform supports over 30 ERP and accounting systems including products from Microsoft, Sage, SAP, NetSuite and Epicor. With connections to the leading eCommerce and CRM applications, plus hundreds of EDI trading partners, eBridge Connections has become the integration platform of choice for businesses worldwide. For more information, please visit www.ebridgeconnections.com.